Press - 12 September 2010 to April 2011
The West Australian – 20 April 2011
Owners face bills for heritage repairs
BY DANIEL MERCER
Property owners could be forced to carry out maintenance or repairs on historically significant buildings under a shake-up of the State's heritage laws flagged by the Barnett Government.
More than four months after first raising the idea, Heritage Minister John Castrilli yesterday confirmed he had ordered a review of the Heritage Act, saying it was outdated and inadequate.
He said part of the review would focus on the issue of properties falling into ruin through neglect and could lead to the creation of laws which compel owners to repair or maintain buildings listed on the State's heritage register.
Although stopping short of endorsing "repair orders", Mr Castrilli described the process of "demolition by neglect" as worrying.
Loopholes in WA's heritage laws were highlighted in November when Mr Castrilli admitted he was powerless to take action against the owners of the historic Guildford Hotel, which has been derelict since it was gutted by fire in 2008.
Heritage Council of WA chair- woman Marion Fulker welcomed the review, saying it was overdue and would help rectify years of neglect of the agency by successive governments.
As Ms Fulker called for submissions from the public over the review, the Government used Australian Heritage Week to reveal Government House had been permanently entered on the State's heritage register.
Media Release – WA Heritage Minister John Castrilli – 19 April 2011
New initiatives for the State’s heritage
Heritage Minister John Castrilli has ended 20 years of vacillation by successive State governments with the release of Western Australia’s first cultural heritage policy.
Legislation was first introduced to State Parliament 20 years ago.
Mr Castrilli said today his new policy clearly showed how much the Liberal-National Government valued WA’s heritage.
“This policy establishes a framework to ensure a secure future for significant heritage places,” he said.
The policy will underpin sound practice in the conservation, management and adaptation of heritage places and will raise awareness among owners of the benefits of conservation and the positive ways heritage places can be adapted.
The State Cultural Heritage Policy contains a range of initiatives, including a major review of the Heritage of Western Australia Act 1990.
The Minister said the first major achievement under the policy was providing improved protection for heritage-listed properties through increased penalties for unauthorised demolition or damage, which came into effect on March 3, 2011.
“The next significant initiative is the comprehensive review of the Heritage Act. I have today released the first consultation paper and I urge interested members of the community to have their say,” he said.
“A key policy objective of the State Cultural Heritage Policy is to ensure heritage legislation is open, transparent, and simple to operate and understand.
“The policy will also provide a framework for the State Government to work effectively across agencies, and with local government and the community, to recognise, maintain and capitalise on our cultural heritage.”
Mr Castrilli said WA had a rich historic heritage that was a significant State asset and this policy would ensure WA’s heritage was protected and promoted.
“Heritage conservation will become increasingly important in the years ahead and it is vital we cultivate innovative ways to ensure heritage is an integral component of the State’s future development,” he said.
A copy of the consultation paper on the review of the Act is available at http://www.heritage.wa.gov.au/about-the-heritage-council/review-of-the-heritage-act.html or phone 9221 4177.
POST Newspapers – 19 March 2011
Greens slam ‘misleading’ Cliffe evidence
BY BONNIE CHRISTIAN
Parliament was misled over the decision to remove The Cliffe from the state heritage list, according to Greens MLC Giz Watson.
“Not only was the House misled through the property being described as rambling and dilapidated with no prospect of recovery, but also a very selective range of material was provided to certain members,” Ms Watson said at a grievance debate in the Legislative Council.
The Cliffe is in Energy Minister Peter Collier’s electorate. He was Opposition heritage spokesman in May 2008 when the house was removed from the WA Register of Heritage Places.
Mr Collier then described the historic weatherboard home sitting high on Devil’s Elbow as dilapidated with no prospect of recovery.
Ms Watson, a former builder and carpenter, said the documents from the Heritage Council were not made public to the House during the debate in 2008.
The documents, made public in December 2008 after The Cliffe had been removed from the register, showed the Heritage Council opposed the de-listing.
The documents were addressed to the Minister of Heritage in November 2007 and say the current condition of The Cliffe did not alter its cultural significance.
It recommended that The Cliffe be maintained and the owner be urged to discuss subdivison and development options with the Heritage Council.
“In my view, the then Minister for Heritage (Michelle Roberts) would have been running very close to lying to the Parliament by withholding information about this property that was quite contrary to what she had said,”
Ms Watson said. Ms Watson said she requested the advice from the Heritage Council be made public during the May debate but it was not until December.
Child Protection Minister Robyn McSweeney said that it was a minister’s role to weigh up the advice given by an agency and to make a decision.
She said the opportunity for a briefing existed for any member who would like further information.
“No additional information was requested, so no information can be considered to have been withheld,” she said.
Mr Collier said he was very familiar with The Cliffe. “At that stage I was shadow minister for heritage and I personally went and looked at it. My conclusions were fundamentally based on that viewing.”
Ms Watson said: “Is the minister a builder?”
Mr Collier said: “I beg your pardon?”
Ms Watson said: “I just asked: is the minister perhaps a builder, or even a carpenter?”
Mr Collier said: “No, the rest of my family are.”
Mrs Watson said: “It is genetically inherited!”
Ms Sweeney said the government would not support Ms Watson’s motion to consider the information that had been withheld from the House because it sounded as though she had developed a conspiracy theory.
At the debate, Ms Watson said the current owner of The Cliffe, Mark Creasy, was a generous donor to the Liberal and Labor parties in the years leading up to the decision to de-list the house.
She said he was number 15 of the top 20 non-corporate donors – donating $116,300 to both parties, $85,300 of which was to the Liberal Party.
Ms Watson said Mr Creasy continued to donate after the decision to de-list the house was made, but only to the Liberal Party.
The fate of The Cliffe has become a controversial topic since the home was placed on the register in 1995.
Mr Creasy bought it before it was placed on the register and it has since been removed twice – first on a technicality, then by a motion in Parliament by the local Lower House member Colin Barnett before he became Premier.
Mr Collier said he had had a long discussion with Mr Creasy and his wife Sharon before the motion was passed in 2008.
He said they expressed their frustration that the property had been heritage-listed.
“They were very frustrated,” he said. “That was where they wanted, ideally, to live, but they were being thwarted because the building was heritage listed.”
He said that he had never had a political conversation with Mr Creasy and did not have a personal relationship with him.
The Shire of Peppermint Grove approved the third consecutive 12-month demolition licence for The Cliffe in October 2010 on condition Mr Creasy explored options to retain the building where possible and the licence expired with him.
Since then the council approved the demolition of the out-buildings on the 4777sq.m block based on Mr Creasy’s intention to subdivide the property, retaining the main building of The Cliffe on a smaller, more affordable block.
POST Newspapers Letters 12 March 2011
We deserve Cliffe answer from Collier
Brian Waldron
Woolloomooloo, NSW
I was interested to hear Energy Minister Peter Collier in the recent parliamentary debate on the removal of The Cliffe from the Heritage Register saying he felt he had been “totally and absolutely transparent”.
Mr Collier correctly reported to Parliament the answers he provided to questions I raised in letters in 2009.
In the debate he repeated that he had partly read a sufficient amount of the Heritage Council’s advice to Michelle Roberts (former Heritage Minister) to make a judgment on delisting The Cliffe.
Still, that doesn’t equal total and absolute transparency, in my mind.
If Mr Collier is keen to be completely transparent in this matter, I think he should also explain:
- Why he didn’t mention, in his speech during the debate on The Cliffe’s potential delisting, that the Heritage Council experts recommended retaining the property on the Heritage Register; and
- How did he get a copy of the Heritage Council’s advice? Did he ask Ms Roberts for it or did she offer?
I don’t expect Mr Collier can answer the other obvious question: Why did he get a copy of the Heritage Council’s advice when Greens leader Giz Watson asked for a copy and was refused?
That’s a question I think Ms Roberts should have answered before now.
POST Newspapers – Letters - 8 January 2011
Wrong to keep nibbling at Cliffe
Brian Waldron
Woolloomooloo, NSW
The plan being considered by Peppermint Grove council to partially demolish bits of The Cliffe (“Cliffe site carve-up”, POST, 18/12) seems to add some credibility to the wrong-headed notion that some of the historic property is not worthy of preservation.
That is not the case. Let’s refresh our memories and read what the Heritage Council said of The Cliffe when it was included on the Register of Heritage Places:
“The Cliffe is a rare example of the use of a weatherboard in a substantial ‘gentleman’s’ residence in Perth which has, intact, the subsidiary buildings of coachhouse, stables, summerhouse, servants’ cottages, and part of the original gardens … The Cliffe was one of the first houses built in Peppermint Grove”.
The subsidiary buildings on the property, along with the garden, represent important elements of The Cliffe.
Quite simply, it was wrong to remove The Cliffe from the Heritage List and it would be equally wrong to nibble away at it by demolishing some of its important elements.
POST Newspapers – Letters - 8 January 2011
I don’t know everything on renos
Mary Robshaw Krasnoff
Nedlands
Re your report, “Rescue offer for The Cliffe” (POST, 22/12), thank you for reporting fairly and faithfully on issues important to our community.
However, I would like to clarify the fact that the first house I restored in Ithaca, New York, was an 1820s, not a 1940s, farmhouse.
Also, I was quoted as saying, “I know everything there is to know”.
This is not a claim I would ever make. In fact, I’m instantly wary of anyone who holds such a belief.
On the contrary, I pride myself on knowing what I don’t know. I find that knowledge has proven vital to solving problems I encounter. I was also quoted as saying, “I know the costs associated and all the different proposals”.
The only costs I am familiar with are those outlined in the 2009 report to Peppermint Grove council by heritage architects Ian Hocking and Associates.
Those recommendations are the ones I refer to when I discuss the viability of restoration/renovations that promote the continued use of older buildings.
It is very difficult to live or work in any building which was designed before we had good electrics, plumbing, temperature control etc.
Some materials have been improved upon over time, but I have yet to see new constructions containing plaster work, wooden floors, doors, windows, skirting boards, architraves, plaster ceilings, hand-wrought ironwork etc that compare with the design, patina and craftsmanship of our existing historic structures.
POST Newspapers 1 January 2011
Cliffe buildings get demo tick
Demolition of the out –buildings and servants’ quarters at The Cliffe was approved by Peppermint Grove council on Tuesday.
Owner Mark Creasy has a licence to demolish the whole property, but instead of doing that, he hopes to save the house by subdividing and selling it on a smaller and more affordable block.
In a report to councillors, the outbuildings and servants’ quarters were shown to have no significant heritage value as they were part of a refurbishment carried out in the 1960s.
POST Newspapers 22 December 2010
Rescue offer for The Cliffe
BY BONNIE CHRISTIAN
The fight to save The Cliffe has taken a new twist on the eve of Peppermint Grove council' consideration of a subdivision proposal.
A woman who wishes to be known only as Mary, and who does not want her address revealed, has offered her time and expertise free of charge to organise the house' restoration.
Mary said her passion for restoring old houses saved the one she lived in, as well as a 1940s farmhouse in New York.
She said she had a proposal for The Cliffe' owner, Mark Creasy, that would allow him to sell the historic jarrah home with its dignity intact.
"I know everything there is to know," she said. "I know the costs associated and all the different proposals. I would like to make a proposal to him."
Mary said her purpose was twofold.
"I don't want to see the house destroyed but I think it's impossible, ridiculous, unliveable to insist that it be brought right back.
"I mean they're talking about light fittings.
"We'll lose houses if we go about it like this.
"It would be advantageous for him to renovate rather than sell it at a discount price to someone who might just let it fall down."
Mary said her motto was to restore and extend sympathetically.
"I have a master builder, and I'm not talking about the Master Builders Association. I also have a master cabinet maker and a master plumber.
"I would say to Mr Creasy, 'Let me go in, let me take these experts I have, let us see if it's something we can do.
"I'll make it even easier: I won't charge anything except costs. If you think we're full of rubbish, just tell us and we'll leave'.
"What I'd like is to get in and have a chat with the guys, throw some plans around, come back and say OK, this is what we think, this is possible, this is what we can do."
Mary said she would like to invite Mr Creasy to her home and show him what she had achieved in restoration and sympathetic additions.
In 2009, a report written for Peppermint Grove council by heritage architects Ian Hocking and Associates said it would cost around $1.48 million to restore The Cliffe.
There has been controversy about the 1894 home on Devil's Elbow since it was placed on the state register of heritage places in 1995.
Mr Creasy bought it before it was placed on the register and it has since been removed twice - first on a technicality, then by a motion in Parliament by Colin Barnett before he became Premier.
For two years running, Peppermint Grove has granted 12-month planning permissions for demolition of the home.
In September this year, the council granted a third approval, on the condition that Mr Creasy explore options to retain the building where possible, rather than demolish it.
Last week, the council discussed an application to demolish the outbuildings on the 4777sq.m block that would allow Mr Creasy to subdivide the land and sell The Cliffe on a smaller and more affordable block.
The demolition licence applies only to the current owner.
A new owner would have to reapply.
POST Newspapers 18 December 2010
Cliffe site carve-up
BY BONNIE CHRISTIAN
After years of uncertainty, the future of The Cliffe looks to be finally resolved.
On Tuesday, Peppermint Grove council discussed an application from owner Mark Creasy to demolish the servants’ quarters and outbuildings of the historic jarrah 1894 home on Devil’s Elbow.
In a report to councillors, the servants’ quarters were said to be of no heritage value to The Cliffe, because they were part of a refurbishment carried out in the 1960s.
The outbuildings were reported to come from the first or second stage of the house construction and are dilapidated, with the tank stand having signs of concrete cancer.
It will mean the main weatherboard house, sitting on 4777sq.m, will be retained on a smaller and more affordable block, with councillors hoping this will attract a buyer willing to restore it.
The demolition licence for The Cliffe applies only to the current owner. A new owner would have to reapply.
The licence was approved in September by councillors on the condition that Mr Creasy explore options to retain the building where possible, rather than demolish it.
The background report presented to councillors on Tuesday said: “The owner has agreed to retain the dwelling on a smaller and more affordable lot if he is able to effectively subdivide and sell the properties for fair market value.”
The servants’ quarters contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining, living area and separate entrance.
As a result of internal finishes and details being removed and replaced in the 1960s when The Cliffe was owned by the parents of Rob and Dave McComb, original members of the cult band, The Triffids, the quarters have been assessed as having no heritage value or significance.
“Intrusive” elements also include the sewing room addition in the main house, the study refurbishment and the addition of a bay window at the home’s eastern end.
The recommendation to the council is to approve the demolition of “intrusive” elements and outbuildings of the property.
A decision will be made at the council meeting this week.
ABC News On-Line - Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:09am AEDT
State Government plans
Heritage Act changes
The State Government has rejected claims it is neglecting laws governing heritage-listed buildings.
The Opposition says the Heritage Act needs to be updated to ensure fire-damaged buildings such as the heritage-listed Guildford Hotel are protected.
The hotel was gutted by fire two years ago but the owners are yet to restore the building.
Hundreds of local residents gathered outside the damaged hotel yesterday to protest over the delays.
The Heritage Minister John Castrilli says he is waiting on the results of a review before introducing changes to the act.
"I've started the review of the heritage act many months ago and I'm expecting a preliminary report from the Heritage Council before the end of this year as a matter of fact and the opposition, they know that," he said.
"Look at the whole act, the effectiveness of the act, what situations have come up how can we improve it, how we can strengthen it and that's what its all about because it was enacted in 1991, but it reflects 1980 thinking."
The POST Newspaper – Letters - 16 October 2010
Cliffe demo tick has me baffled
Brian Waldron
Woolloomooloo, NSW
Is it just me, or is there anyone else who has been left confused by Peppermint Grove council’s decision in relation to the application to (again) demolish The Cliffe (“Creasy wants to save The Cliffe”, POST, 9/10)?
I still can’t see why an owner would apply for permission to demolish a house that he or she doesn’t want to demolish.
Nor can I quite figure out why the council would grant approval for such a demolition on condition that there has to be an agreement between council and owner that the property would not be demolished.
Why do I keep feeling there is something else going on here that I just don’t understand?
The POST NEWSPAPER 09 October 2010
Creasy wants to save The Cliffe
BY BONNIE CHRISTIAN
Mark Creasy has agreed not to demolish The Cliffe in Peppermint Grove, and he cannot pass the building’s demolition permission on to a new owner.
The saga of the historic 30-room weatherboard home took another twist after the council learned that Mr Creasy wanted to retain the building, if possible.
At last week’s meeting Peppermint Grove council granted Mr Creasy permission to demolish the house, on condition he does not demolish it and the approval ceases when it is sold.
The effect is that it cannot be demolished while it is owned by Mr Creasy, and any new owner would have to make a new application.
The decision may be a precedent for the controversial Walsh home further down The Esplanade, whose owners want to offer the property for sale with a demolition permit attached.
The application, for 12 The Esplanade, is at present under appeal in the State Administrative Tribunal.
The latest demolition licence is the third for The Cliffe, which sits above Devil’s Elbow on the Swan River.
“To my understanding the owner has at all times acted in good faith and tried a number of different options to allow the best possible outcome both for him and the preservation of The Cliffe,” councillor Karen Farley said.
“My concern is that if the application is successful on the terms that it stands now it will simply pass with the land.
“So you will either get a person who purchases it who wants to restore it, or just as likely someone who will want to purchase it because it’s got the demolition ability and the first thing they’ll do is bowl it over.
“I am concerned about that and so is the owner from our discussions with him.
“He came up with a number of ideas such as making the sale of the land subject to the owner not demolishing it. I’m concerned about that because there’s still the possibility that there is planning approval in place and it can just happen.”
Councillors voted to grant approval for another 12 months or until Mr Creasy sold the property.
In this time he has agreed with the council not to demolish The Cliffe and work towards options to preserve it, as presented in The Cliffe Future Options Study.
The options explored by Mr Creasy and the shire include retaining the property and selling it under the conditions of heritage agreement.
Others are to demolish it or to relocate it to another location or to another part of the 4777sq.m block. Others include subdivision and sale of smaller “rump” lots while refurbishing the property on its present site or another location on the site.
This was suggested when Mr Creasy first bought the site. It was not accepted by the council at the time and the offer was withdrawn.
Mr Creasy and councillors have also suggested subdividing the block, in the hope of making it a less daunting restoration project for a future owner.
At an agenda briefing forum earlier this month, councillors became aware that they were able to refuse planning permission despite approval being granted in previous years.
They learned that the building’s heritage listing within the shire gave weight to their decision, which could be made on the merit of a new application rather than a renewal application.
The house is listed as category 1 on the council’s municipal register – buildings which due to their character create the atmosphere of Peppermint Grove.
A heritage report says it is one of the most significant places in WA of its period, one of the first five houses in Peppermint Grove.
“It has exceptional historic, aesthetic, technical and social significance,” it says.
The listing says these buildings should be retained, but may be altered and extended in a manner which is both discreet and sympathetic to the original fabric and character so that a significant proportion of the original building is retained and from the street the additions are seen to be a continuation of the same fabric and character.
Mrs Farley said the preservation of The Cliffe was something that should occur if possible.
The West Australian 1 October 2010
New plan could save The Cliffe
BY BEATRICE THOMAS
Millionaire prospector Mark Creasy is planning to subdivide and sell parts of his big Peppermint Grove property in a move which could potentially save historic homestead The Cliffe from the wrecker's ball.
And in a further move to help keep the homestead, the Shire of Peppermint Grove is seeking an agreement from Mr Creasy not to demolish The Cliffe before any sale and has made a 12-month approval for demolition provisional on him owning the site.
Built by a timber merchant in the 1890s, the property is a rare example of a jarrah mansion and was the family home of Dave McComb - the creative force behind the hugely influential 1980s Perth rock band The Triffids.
New drawings shown to Shire of Peppermint Grove councillors on Tuesday night, show plans for five lots varying in size from 1116sqm to 2134sqm wrapping around Bindaring Parade and McNeil Street.
Shire president Brian Kavanagh said while the plans depended on Mr Creasy buying portions of neighbouring properties and amalgamating his other lots, it would cut the size of the lot containing The Cliffe to 1769sqm.
He said this was a manageable size for someone who wanted to buy the property and restore the homestead. Real estate agents say land in the area could fetch anywhere from $3000/sqm to $7000/sqm.
The Cliffe has been at the centre of more than a decade of debate over its future, including a row over its removal from the State heritage register and more recently a parliamentary inquiry clearing Premier Colin Barnett of any wrongdoing in his role in the removal.
The council voted unanimously to pursue an agreement with Mr Creasy not to demolish the 111-year-old building.
Cr Kavanagh said it was also decided for the first time to tie the extension of the demolition approval to Mr Creasy exclusively, amid fears that a third party which had not acted in the same good faith would come in and bulldoze The Cliffe.
Councillors inspected the property last week.
Cr Karen Farley said the subdivision plans were a "laudable decision" by the owner and gave the property the best chance of survival.
Greg Rowe and Associates associate Aaron Lohman, speaking on behalf of Mr Creasy, said the subdivision plans had not been submitted to the WA Planning Commission and no timeframes had been discussed.
Mr Lohman said three options existed of relocating the homestead, demolishing it or the council purchasing it, though Cr Kavanagh said the council had ruled this out.
Oneperth.com.au 26 September 2010
Rotting mansions face opposite fates
BY CHRIS THOMSON
Rotting Cottesloe mansion Le Fanu is being primed for renovation while The Cliffe in nearby Peppermint Grove will languish on death row a while longer.
This Tuesday night the Town of Cottesloe and Shire of Peppermint Grove will respectively decide the fates of the two jaded villas.
With views across Marine Parade to Rottnest Island, National Trust listed Le Fanu is a near ruin with collapsing chimneys, termite eaten floors, and ceilings sagging under tonnes of sand blown in over the past century.
The once majestic mansion was built from 1892 to 1897 by prominent banker and socialite Henry Holmes.
It was later acquired by the Church of England which extended it under the guidance of Henry Le Fanu, the second Archbishop of Perth.
A 27-page report penned by Town of Cottesloe planners recommends that a mutlimillion dollar revamp of the limestone villa be approved.
Plans submitted by the owners reveal that four rooms, a northern verandah enclosed after World War II and a post WWII ablution block will be removed. An underground car park will be erected beneath the demolition area.
The ballroom, dining room, study and leadlights will be restored to their former grandeur. The prominent chimneys are to be restored but not to working order.
The kitchen will be partially demolished and adapted as a guest suite.
A large self-contained house will be built behind the existing mansion.
The plans have received mixed reviews from seven neighbours whose submissions range from support to “disappointment”. Height of the self-contained house, privacy, building bulk and the subterranean car park are the most notable issues.
Meanwhile, in adjacent Peppermint Grove, a 12-month planning approval to demolish The Cliffe expired on September 14.
The 1895-built mansion is revered by ageing Generation Xers as the place where Triffids members David and Robert McComb were raised and recorded the band’s first songs.
Peppermint Grove planners have recommended a 12-month renewal of the demolition approval.
They enigmatically suggest they will work with millionaire prospector owner Mark Creasy to retain the house.
Council heritage documents recognise The Cliffe as the former ”showpiece for the local timber industry” and “a focus for Perth and Peppermint Grove society during the first quarter of (the twentieth) century”.
Chimneys, ceilings and walls of the Bindaring Parade house are cracked and verandah boards rotten.
Mr Creasy and his wife Sharon bought The Cliffe in 1995.
POST Newspapers 18 September 2010
Advice misled Grove on Cliffe demolition
BY BONNIE CHRISTIAN
The Cliffe saga is being brought to a head at Peppermint Grove with councillors set to consider whether to refuse the building’s demolition.
“In the past, various officers have led us to believe that there was no way, considering it wasn’t enshrined in the planning scheme, that the council could amend or refuse a licence,” said shire president Brian Kavanagh at an agenda briefing forum on Tuesday.
“I regret the judgement given, because that’s not the case at all.”
For two years running the council has granted 12-month planning permissions for demolition of the historic weatherboard house high above Devil’s Elbow on the Swan River.
Councillors had been told they had no choice, but when owner Mark Creasy applied for a third permission this month, the advice to the council was different.
Manager of development services David Chidlow said there was a link between the town planning scheme and the heritage list that would allow the council to amend or refuse a demolition licence.
“There are clauses in the scheme that refer to the heritage list,” he said “When the council is considering a planning application, it has to consider the amenity and the proper planning of the area, and heritage does fit within that.”
Last year Judge John Chaney brought the link to light in a court hearing between Terry and Chelsea Walsh and Richard and Janine Goyder.
It was over a controversial block in Irvine Street that had been subdivided and sold to the Walshes by developer and former local councillor Peter Bacich.
Mr Chidlow said: “Justice Chaney came to the conclusion that there was a link between the two that gives sufficient weight to the decision in the overall planning approval process.”
Mr Kavanagh said he believed the status of the building had changed as the council had been operating under false pretences.
“The shire’s position is stronger than what we’ve been led to believe by previous reports,” he said.
Mr Chidlow said that although the council might not have been aware of the link, it had always been there and could have been considered in its decision.
But current advice is that the council may have weakened its position by agreeing to the two earlier demolition applications.
If the application was taken to the State Administrative Tribunal and the council was questioned as to what had changed to make it want to refuse a new application, Mr Chidlow said the answer would be “nothing substantial”.
However, the previous council’s approval of demolition was only one factor that could be taken into account, he said.
“It is not a renewal application – the planning approval is valid for 12 months and then expires; it then becomes a new application and can be considered on its own merits,” he said.
The application has expired for this year and Cliffe owner Mark Creasy can no longer legally demolish his house.
Mr Kavanagh said in a letter that Mr Creasy had said he was looking at alternative options to demolition. These will be brought to the council meeting this month.
